Battle of Saipan

The Battle of Saipan occurred from 15 June to 9 July 1944 when the United States assaulted the Japanese stronghold of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. The US Navy bombarded Saipan before US Army and US Marine Corps troops waded ashore on 15 June, and 71,000 American soldiers took part in the offensive. They faced 32,000 Japanese troops under the Japanese admirals Chuichi Nagumo, Takeo Takagi, and Matsuji Ijuin and the army general Yoshitsugu Saito, and the fighting for the island was fierce. The island's resistance came to an end after the capture of Mount Tapotchau, a major Japanese stronghold, and all of the Japanese commanders were killed in action. Barely over 900 of the 32,000 Japanese troops were captured alive, with 24,000 dying in battle and 5,000 killing themselves; the majority of the 22,000 civilian deaths in the battle were also suicides. Saipan's fall and those of neighboring Tinian and Guam provided the US Air Force with bases from which they could bomb the Japanese home islands, a major step forwards for the Allied Powers.